


Ashes

by Rina_san28



Series: Pride Month 2018 [14]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Mom Urbosa, Multi, Past Character Death, Resurrection, Some Humor, They can't all be happy, Urbosa is a giant lesbian and I love her, and one hundred years takes its toll, pride 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-23 23:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14943734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina_san28/pseuds/Rina_san28
Summary: When Urbosa wakes, those missing hurt the most.Written for Pride Month 2018 Day 15: Truth





	Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> *shrugs* They couldn't all be happy. 
> 
> Urbosa is a giant lesbian, I think we all know that. This story takes place immediately after the events of 2 (Re-Embodiment). 
> 
> If you're reading this without reading the other two first, the story so far is that as a thank-you present for getting rid of Ganon, the goddess Hylia resurrected the Champions and interrupted Link and Zelda's sad but contented domestic bliss (for the better, of course :D )
> 
> Enjoy!

Zelda and Link hastened to Riju’s private chambers, where Urbosa was being kept. The pair were surprised to see the Champion still unconscious.

 

“Did she wake at all after you brought her back?” Zelda asked, biting her lip as she observed the woman on the bed.

 

“Once,” Riju said with a wince, and Buliara shifted uncomfortably at her customary position behind the young chief. “Shortly after you left. She was searching for…well, we aren’t sure. But she became combative and our healers thought it best to sedate her. She should wake again soon.”

 

“Odd,” Zelda said. Link could almost hear the cogs turning in her brain. “The other Champions were fairly aware once we reached them, and the latter two were able to leave their Divine Beasts without aid.”

 

“There was a long gap between us finding Urbosa and Revali,” Link pointed out. “And even Revali was…out of it when we got there.”

 

“The others also woke fully still in their Beasts,” Zelda said thoughtfully. She nodded to herself. “Moving her so soon likely disoriented her.”

 

“The lead healer said something similar,” Riju said with a tired smile that didn’t fit on her young face. “She wasn’t too concerned, though. Lady Urbosa should be fine.”

 

“Did she say anything?” Zelda asked.

 

Buliara nodded. “She called for you two, as well as…names I did not recognize,” she said. “Nirah first, then Sanni and I believe Lenni?”

 

Link and Zelda exchanged pained looks. “Nirah was her wife,” Link said slowly, “and the other two…”

 

“Her daughters,” Zelda said, her lips pursed unhappily. “Those were their nicknames. Sanji and Lenai. Lenai wasn’t more than a babe when the Calamity came, was she?”

 

“She’d just had her second birthday,” Link said painfully. “They’re all gone now, aren’t they?”

 

“Yes,” Ruji said, looking a little stunned. “Sanji was my grandmother. I was still very young when she passed away.”

 

“Oh, no,” Zelda whimpered. She glanced over at Urbosa again. “Oh, that is going to hurt her so badly.” Just then, the woman twitched, her face crumpling up as she woke. The Hylian princess gasped and ran to her side.

 

“Would you like me to leave?” Riju asked quietly.

 

Link shook his head. “No,” he said. “You’re her family. You deserve this.” The girl swallowed, but nodded in acknowledgement.

 

“Zelda?” Urbosa murmured, squinting up at the young woman. She went to sit up but hissed and brought a hand to her head. “Ugh, I feel like I’ve been run over by a sand seal.”

 

“Take it easy,” Link said, walking up behind his partner. “They had to drug you. Go slow.”

 

“What are you doing here?” she asked, ignoring his suggestion completely as she sat up fully. “You were going to the castle!”

 

“It’s over, Urbosa,” Zelda said gently. “We ended Ganon’s reign of terror a month ago.”

 

“He’s gone?”

 

“Yes,” she said. “You did well, all of the Champions did. He’s gone forever.”

 

Urbosa blinked in astonishment. “Oh.” She shook herself, then frowned, searching around the room for…something. _Somebody,_ Link realized with a stab of pain.

 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked, trying to distract her for the moment.

 

“I…” she faltered. “I remember pain, being stabbed by that…thing. After that is somewhat fuzzy.” She looked Link up and down. “You freed me from the Blight, didn’t you?” He nodded. “And I fired on the castle?” He nodded again. “Good, so my memory matches fact. That is all I need to know. Now where’s my wife?”

 

Zelda swallowed. “She’s…not here, Urbosa,” she said haltingly.

 

Urbosa’s frown deepened. “I was out for a long time, but surely not so long,” she said, slightly heated.

 

“Over one hundred years passed between the rise of the Calamity and its fall,” Zelda said. She took Urbosa’s hand in her own. “I’m sorry, but…she’s gone.”

 

“Gone?” The woman’s mighty voice was nearly a whisper. She blinked rapidly. “How long?”

 

“Chief Nirah passed away nearly seventy years ago,” Riju answered from where she still sat by the window. “Lady Lenai died a warrior’s death about twenty-five years later, and Chief Sanji passed of old age ten years ago.” She paused, then added. “She was my grandmother.”

 

Urbosa studied her for a moment, then reached out, asking silently. The girl rose and went to her, taking the offered hand. “What is your name, little one?”

 

“Riju - Makeela,” she answered. “My mother’s name was Naru.”

 

“Was?”

 

“She’s been gone for five years. I’m the current chief.”

 

Urbosa’s face was sad. “You’re so young.”

 

“I’m fifteen,” Riju said. Whether it was an agreement or a protest, Link couldn’t say.

 

“You’re my great-granddaughter, then,” Urbosa said. Finally – finally! – she smiled. “Neither of us are alone here, Makeela. I promise.” She redirected her gaze to the Hylians. “Now, I want food, clothes, and a long explanation from the two of you,” she said, and both couldn’t help but smile slightly at the motherly tone in her voice. “I have a feeling there is a lot more for you to tell me, and one of those things better be about the ring on the little bird’s finger.”

 

Zelda’s startled squawk was almost drowned out by the others’ laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> There is more discussion of Urbosa and Riju's family coming up in part 3, but here are the basics:  
> 1) Urbosa was married to a Gerudo lady scholar named Nirah, who was younger than her.  
> 2) They each carried one child - Urbosa carried Sanji and Nirah carried Lenai.  
> 3) In case it isn't clear, Riju is directly descended from Urbosa through her eldest daughter. I made her the great-granddaughter for ease of storytelling and because the ages matched better that way.  
> 4) In my personal headcanon, Gerudo have a slightly longer lifespan than Hylians. A good way to compare it would be Men versus Hobbits from LotR - mostly comparable to Hylians, but stretched slightly. This, of course, puts a great deal of weight on how young Riju is - the equivalence would put her at about ten or eleven in Hylian years, which is not at all fair, but shows how much she was forced to grow up in so short a time. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
